Huller-knife



F. WE

LLS. nife.'

(No Model.)

No. 236,470. Patented m. 11, 1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFi-cn.

FRANK A. WELLS, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

HULLER-KNIFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,470, dated January11, 1881. Application filed April 26, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. VELLS, residing at Memphis, in the countyof Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented Improvements inHuller-Knives, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved form of huller-knife adapted to beapplied to cottonseed hullers, such as shown in Patent No. 96,177,issued to me on the 26th of October, 1869.

The huller-knife consists of a central plate or web of even thickness,provided with flanges on the side edges, said flanges having auniformly-increasing thickness from the web to their outer faces, so asto form four acute-angled corners to the knife, for purposes hereinafterdescribed.

The cylinder is constructed with recesses, in which the knives aresecured by set-screws, as in the patent above referred to.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, 1 will proceed todescribe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a sectional view of a cotton-seed huller using my improvedknife. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the knife itself.

A may represent the frame, and B the stationary knives, of acotton-seed-hulling machine.

O is the rotating cylinder, to the periphery of which the knives areattached.

D D represent my improved knives, which are secured to the cylinder bybolts E. These knives are made of rolled wrought iron, and consist of aflat web, F, and diverging flanges G, the outer faces of said flangesbeing plane, as shown. The cylinder 0 is provided with recesses in itsconvex surface corresponding in shape to the knives, so as-to afford theknives a firm bearing; and it will be observed that the innermost flangeof each knife is embedded in the cylinder in such a manner as to relievethe bolts-E of most of the side stress.

When one edge of a knife wears out, the bolts E are removed and theknife reversed, so that all the four edges are in turn utilized.

This peculiar form of huller-knife is the most effective and durableshape for the purpose that I have yet found. I have found, also, that itis much better to make the knives of wrought-iron, as when cast theflanges are liable to be broken, and thus injure the efficiency of thehuller, both by spoiling the knives and depositing pieces of metal inthe machine.

Three advantages arise from the form of my improved huller-knife asdistinguished from those double concave in cross-section: First, the webtakes a firmer hold upon the material, because it has asharperedge andsteeper sides second, it takes, in the reverse position, acorrespondingly stronger hold upon the cylinder in the channel at theinner edge of the recess formed for its reception, and better resiststhe tangential pull on the knife, largely relieving the strain on thefastening-bolts; and, third, the plates, in being arranged to overlap,are enabled by their internal angles and edges to interlock, eachholding its neighbor in place against tractional strain, and being inturn held up to its work from beneath by the edge of the web of itsneighbor.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The Wrought-iron huller-knife consisting of the flat Web F, providedon each edge with an acute-angled flange, G, substantially as shown.

2. The combination, in a cotton-seed huller, of the cylinder 0 andknives D, said knives having a flat web and four acute-angled flan ges,and overlapping, so as to interlock, as shown and set forth.

3. The combination, in a cotton-seed huller, of the knives D, of theshape shown and described, and arranged to overlap one another andinterlock, and the cylinder 0, having the recesses in its convex surfacecorresponding to the shape of the knives, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

1 A. WELLS.

Witnesses:

W. H. GODDARD, JOHN NEAL.

